Didn’t speak Japanese until moving to Japan

My father’s business in America (Japanese) School life in Japan (Japanese) Identity (Japanese) The horror of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing (Japanese) Feelings upon listening to the imperial rescript (Japanese) Returning to America after the war (Japanese) Enlisting in the U.S. Army (Japanese) Working tirelessly after the war (Japanese) What I wanted to pass down to my children (Japanese) Father owned a café in Minot, North Dakota Japanese in Minot Didn’t speak Japanese until moving to Japan Being enlisted into the Japanese Army Wasn’t told he was being trained for kamikaze bombing Experiences in Hiroshima after the A-bomb Reaction to the Emperor’s surrender Worked for the occupation force in Japan after the war Fitting back into American life Speaking about his wife Comparing basic training of US and Japanese Armies Helping youth in the community

Transcripts available in the following languages:

At the time I never, never spoke Japanese in Minot, I don’t remember talking, yeah in Japanese, or…we always conversed in English and so until we landed in Yokohama and then even then you know, I don’t know, I was looking at my brother and, you know I think I remember saying something like, oh my! Oh my! Hunk of baloney or something. [laughs] Yeah, and then at the boat, my uncle came up to the deck, you know came up, and then he asked, I guess he asked in Japanese, are you Suto? And I remember I answering yes, and you know that’s [laughs] yeah, that the first conversation, yeah, that I had in [with] Japanese people we had, in Japanese.

Date: June 17, 2008
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Janice Tanaka
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

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